Broken Branches
by Hawki
Summary: G5 Story: "You are here, because you know that something is wrong in this world. You've felt it in your bones. Your soul. You know that the world could be better. That it should be better. You've known this your entire life. It's why night after night, you've poured over spell books in a bid to find something to make you feel whole."
1. Earth

_A/N_

_So this began as a oneshot, but ended up becoming so long I converted it to a multi-chapter. So, on that note:_

_-This contains spoilers for the ending of G4, so keep that in mind if you're reading this before its proper release._

_-This is likewise based on leaked material for G5. Now, it's material that is pretty sparse, and it almost certainly isn't going to gel with what's written here (I can get away with it since thanks to the comics, there's a precedent for alternate realities), but since it _was _leaked, I'm giving forewarning if you want to go into G5 completely blind._

* * *

**My Little Pony: Broken Branches**

**Chapter 1: Earth**

_In her dreams, she could use magic._

_Across all the realms, ponies would travel to see her. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies alike. Even the dragons would leave their realm to see her majesty, knowing that she had the power to send them back to the fiery pits that spawned them should they get out of hoof. Across the realms, there were those who had asked if it was better to be feared than to be loved. As far as she was concerned, she could have the best of both worlds. Of all worlds. Of every realm connected to the Great Tree, she would stand in the centre._

_In her dreams, she could use magic. In her dreams, it felt real._

_She could feel it flowing through her mane, her hooves, her soul. The elements of creation were at her command. When she used magic, she felt in control. When she used magic, she felt alive. In her dreams, she felt free. She felt whole. In her dreams, she was who, and what, she was meant to be. And the dreams these days were more vivid than they'd ever been._

Wake up.

_These days, in her dreams, she heard whispers. Whispers which haunted her even after her return to the waking world._

You have to wake up.

_She ignored the whispers and plunged further into the dream. This time, a challenger approached her – a unicorn, of course, because it always was. The greatest magic-users in all the realms, and even they had come to fear her. Or in this case, challenge her. One who called herself great and powerful, unknowing of the true power she had just contested._

This isn't you.

_She smirked, and cast her magic, taking the unicorn's challenge. It was over before it even began._

Wake up!

_But then the dream ended, and-_

* * *

…and she returned to the waking world_, _lying on a tatty bed surrounded by low-level spell books. Tomes of wisdom designed for the likes of her. Groaning, she cast one eye out of the window of the apartment, and one eye on the clock by said window. The light in the sky told her that it was early in the morning. The clock, marking the hour of 6:33, told her that she was already late in getting up. The books, with titles like _A Beginner's Guide to Magic _and _Magic: Instructions for Non-Unicorns _reminded her that she'd tried to master magic for years, and had so far managed only the most basic of spells. And as she lay back on her pillow, rubbing her eyes, her pounding head reminded her that she really had to get to bed earlier, and not waste time on spells that would never give her the adoration she sought, let alone the power. That as deeply as one could dream, reality always won in the end.

"What the heck am I doing?" Twilight Sparkle murmured.

The apartment provided no answer. Nothing did. And she was a long way from conjuring up a magical assistant to provide an answer either.

After all, she was just an earth pony.

* * *

Manehattan had seen better days.

Like most things in the world, those days had been long before she was born. Before her parents, even. Before her brother had marched off to the most recent realm war and fell in battle as so many others had. Walking through the smog-filled streets, coughing as the odours entered her nose and mouth, Twilight managed to peer at the clock situated over Eternity Square – 7:09. She was still late, but there were so many earth ponies here clogging the streets while motorcars navigated through the crowd, she couldn't move any faster. Casting her gaze through the horde, she wondered how many of the ponies here felt the same way as she did. Whether they had a constant ache in their bones. An emptiness, one that couldn't be fulfilled by climbing up to the spires that dotted the skyline. Years ago, when she'd gone to the top of the Equestrian State Building, it had been for the purpose of getting a good look at the World Tree. For as the buildings rose, as the smog intensified, it became harder and harder to see it from the ground. As Manehattan sprawled out over the realm, as more and more arable land was consumed by its voracious appetite, Twilight envisaged a day where the city would come up to the roots of the tree itself.

Still coughing, she finally reached the door of a warehouse and knocked thrice, before letting out yet another cough. At the best of times, work at the warehouse was monotonous. At the worst of times, it was hell. As the door opened, and she saw the earth pony before her…

"You're late," Applejack grunted.

…she could tell that it was going to be one quarter monotonous, three quarters hell. Usually how upbeat Applejack was, was a good marker as to how the day would play out.

"Sorry," Twilight murmured, by way of apology.

Applejack let out another grunt. "Come on then. Oranges aren't gonna ship themselves."

Twilight sighed and walked into the warehouse. She cast a glance at the clock that hung against the wall by the employees' entrance – 7:14.

"I'm not that late," she murmured.

"Fifteen minutes late, girl."

"Fourteen," Twilight said.

Applejack gave her a dirty look and Twilight knew immediately to shut up. Clocking in and depositing her satchel containing her spell books, she got to work. Checking oranges, putting oranges in crates, moving those crates, and then doing whatever else she was asigned. A ten hour day with a one hour break, doing the same task over and over for six days a week – a pretty good gig in this economy. In the early days, Twilight had been able to find some solace in talking to those around her as they did their work, but ever since Applejack's brother had risen to foreman, talking had been enforced to a minimum. But that said, as she and her fellow earth pony worked on opposite sides of the conveyer belt…

"So…" Twilight murmured.

That didn't mean she wasn't one to break the rules. It wasn't as if she was some anal-retentive nutcase who wanted everything in order, right?

Applejack grunted.

Or at least she told herself that. "How's…things?" Twilight asked.

Applejack glared at her. "Why are you talking to me?"

"Just making friendly conversation."

"Yeah? Well, in case you hadn't noticed, don't have much to talk about these days. Or permission."

Twilight glanced around, to see if any Flim & Flam Incorporated security goons were too close for her to speak. Judging it safe, she said, "how's that dreams of yours going?"

"What dream?"

"Y'know, that dream where you started your own apple orchard, where you'd have a nice parcel of land where you could feed everyone across the realm, where you could-"

"Twilight, I've known you for five years, and you've said some doozies," Applejack snapped, her city-girl accent coming through even more than usual.

"Um…"

"I never said anything about some stupid dream making apples, so keep your mouth shut and stick to it."

Twilight blinked. "But you told me just last week that you-"

"I said nothing," Applejack said. "Now, either get up or shut up."

Twilight stared at her. Applejack was lying. Which wasn't strange in of itself (people lied all the time), but it was such a blatant lie, she had no idea how her fellow pony thought she could get away with it. Back when they'd met, they'd shared their hopes, their dreams…basically everything Twilight had shared with her brother before the war, just as they'd shared things with their parents before the smog took them. But as the years went on, as the same work was repeated day after day after day, Applejack had changed. She smiled less. She talked less. And as loathe as Twilight was to admit it, she'd changed over the years as well.

"Something wrong, Miss Sparkle?" asked a voice from behind.

"Oh, nothing. I-"

She let out a yelp as someone whacked her over the head with a hoof. She spun round and saw one of the factory security guards standing over her.

"The heck was that for?"

The guard gestured with his hoof, to the oranges that were further down the conveyor belt. Bad oranges. Bruised oranges. Oranges she'd let slip past her.

"Oh…" She tried smiling. "Don't suppose you could just look the other way? Show a bit of kindness? Compassion? That sort of thing?"

The guard scowled at her and Twilight's ears fell. "Didn't think so."


	2. Sky

.

**My Little Pony: Broken Branches**

**Chapter 2: Sky**

Hours after leaving the warehouse, Twilight had used language that she didn't even know had existed to describe the assignment the foreman had given to her, not to mention the foreman himself.

An orange delivery. To pegasi no less. Those winged barbarians were buying oranges from Flim & Flam Incorporated, and she was the lucky earth pony who'd been assigned to deliver them. Which meant a four hour trip to the World Tree, a four hour trip back, and however long it took to deliver the oranges in question. When she'd asked the foreman if she was going to be paid overtime, he'd said "nope." When she'd asked if she could take her satchel with her, he'd said "yep." When she'd asked if he felt at ease knowing that his sister was slaving away on the warehouse floor while he sat in an office drinking apple cider, one of the guards had whacked her over the head again and she'd been sent on her way, getting a sympathetic look from the foreman's youngest sibling before she'd been hushed round the back of the office. She'd said goodbye to Applejack on the warehouse floor, but her fellow earth pony had simply grunted, not looking up from the constant tide of oranges.

_Runs in the family I guess._

Still, as she pushed the trolley carrying the orange crate, she reflected that maybe it wasn't all bad. She was now outside Manehattan, and out in the open fields, able to enjoy the view and the cleaner air. Granted, these were fields where hundreds of earth ponies slaved away, growing food to feed themselves, and cultivating rock farms to .to feed the infrastructure that was ever consuming more and more of the land they were using. Twilight wasn't sure how much of the food produce was to feed her own people, versus how much would be sent as exports to other realms, but she did know that prices had been rising in the realm for a year. She'd purposely decided to get lunch at the World Tree, because due to reasons of economics she didn't quite understand, food was always cheaper there.

And then, there was the tree itself.

Its trunk stretched out beyond the clouds, beyond sight, beyond comprehension. Its roots extended across all the realms, linking together. Her realm, the so called Realm of Earth. The Realm of Magic, the domain of the unicorns. The Fire Realm, the home of the dragons. And among them and others, the Sky Realm. The domain of the pegasi. Brutes to the core, Twilight reflected, but nevertheless, they were the ones she'd have to make this delivery to. Which meant approaching the base of the World Tree, waiting in line for an hour, being questioned by border patrol, before finally being allowed inside the trunk itself. And, of course, getting something to eat. She might not have a paid lunch break, but she was damn well going to take it.

She grabbed a hay burger and munched away, staring at awe in the network of portals. Creatures of all kinds passing to and fro. Ponies. Dragons. Griffons. Hippogriffs. Creatures that might not love each other, but at least these days, at least tolerated each other. The World Tree bound all realms together, even if it didn't bind its people.

And yet…Twilight finished off the rest of her burger as she sat at a table outside the Hay & Barley joint, and frowned. Surely things could be better, right? For all their differences, they were all children of the same world, even if the realms were splintered. Manehattan had seen better days, and according to the old stories, it wasn't the only place that had. Once, there were days where one could pass from one realm to another and not attract a second glance. Days when the air was clear, when the secrets of magic would flow freely, and where, most astonishingly of all, people would break into song and laughter at the drop of a hoof. Days that Twilight had never known, and days she sometimes doubted ever really existed, and yet…

And yet there was a sense of _wrongness _to it all. The increasing isolation. The constant wars. All her life, she'd asked why things were the way they were, and always the answer was "just because." Pegasi were brutes. Unicorns were arrogant. Earth ponies were hardworking and true, and if she was going to learn magic, then good, because it might put those arrogant twats in their place while fending off the feathered freaks. And remembering the dream from last night, she had to admit, over time, she'd come to believe it. Just like her brother, before he'd died…

She leant back in her chair and blew her mane, looking up at the ceiling in a bid to take her mind off her deceased sibling. The interior of the World Tree stemmed higher than her eye could see. That same eye which narrowed as a streak of yellow liquid caught her attention. Sitting up and getting off the chair, Twilight squinted through the gloom. Over a hundred metres above her, on the wood…numerous scars, with a yellow liquid seeping out of them.

_Sap, _she reflected, before frowning. _Almost like it's bleeding._ She went to retrieve her satchel and-

"Ow!"

Let out a yell as something hit her in the head. Scowling, she looked at the ball that rolled away from her, and scowled even further at the pegasus filly that looked at Twilight sheepishly.

"Sorry," the pegasus whispered.

_You better be you little… _Twilight took a breath. "That's alright. I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Yep. Absolutely. Go find your mum, or dad, or, heck, I dunno."

"Okay. Thanks miss."

Twilight fought the urge to smile. Pegasi were brutes, she reminded herself. Oh sure, they might seem cute and innocent now, and the little filly might be onboard with his parents a few dozen feet away, so glad that they'd found him, but it didn't matter. The pegasus would grow up into being a barbarian, because that's what pegasi did. Because every book she'd read told her that they would, and books didn't lie. She couldn't afford to let down her guard.

_And now I'm going to see a whole realm full of them, _Twilight thought to herself. She picked up her satchel and began wheeling the trolley towards the main hub. _Sky Realm. Sky Realm. Sky…_

She saw a portal that led to a land of clouds.

_Ah, there it is. _She took a breath and began wheeling the trolley towards it. She came to a halt outside a bored looking guard, his gaze not befitting an earth pony wearing armour and spear.

"Um, excuse me?" Twilight asked.

The guard grunted.

"Can I go through?"

The guard nodded his head to the side to the portal.

"So, do I just go through? Because if someone's coming through the other side, then I might be…"

The guard grunted. "Not my problem."

"Oh. Of course. Great." She sighed and began wheeling her trolley to the portal. "Bloody mule…"

There was a yell, but not from the guard at the use of such an egregious insult. Rather, it was a yell of a flying pink _thing _that came soaring through the portal, and a yell from Twilight as the _thing _ploughed into her. Her satchel fell off and the crate tipped over, a number of oranges tumbling out.

"No. No no no no no!"

"Ugh. What hit me?"

While she stuffed the oranges back in, she looked up at the pegasus, who was rubbing her head. She had pink fur, pink wings, a pink mane, and damn it, even pink eyes. Twilight decided that she hated her immediately.

"Oh. Great. An earth pony."

Really hated her. Scowling, she stuffed the remaining oranges back into her crate and glared at the brute.

"Wow. You gonna eat that?"

"No," Twilight said.

"Did I ruin your day?"

_My day's already ruined, _Twilight thought to herself.

The pegasus began to laugh. Twilight watched as she hovered in the air, rolling around as if she'd uttered the greatest joke in the history of all the realms. "Wow," Twilight sneered. "Do you laugh at every little mishap like that, or is it only for the great jokes?"

The pegasus fell silent, and with a grin that Twilight didn't like, descended down through the air. Smiling like a griffon who'd discovered some bits, she patted Twilight's head. "Oh silly," she said. "I only laugh at earth ponies. I mean, you're a bunch of jokes already."

Twilight slapped her hoof but the pegasus was too fast. Cackling, she soared through the air and out of the World Tree. Scowling, Twilight looked at the guard. "You gonna do anything?"

The guard grunted. "Pinkie Pie usually does something like that."

"And you don't stop her?"

The guard grunted.

"No," Twilight sighed, as she rolled the cart to the portal. "Of course you don't."

She came to a stop outside the portal, steeling herself for what was to come. She'd encountered two pegasi today, and only one of them had bothered to hide its true colours. In the Sky Realm, there'd be no charades.

"Keep it together, you got this," Twilight whispered. "Keep it together. Keep it together." She took a breath and stepped through the portal. "Keep it-"

* * *

_Something was wrong._

_She'd travelled through realms before and it had never been like this. Usually transport was instantaneous. But here, she was falling through air. Tossed around like a leaf caught in a tornado._

"Twilight."

_Someone was talking to her. But all around her was just empty sky that she continued to tumble through, the orange trolley nowhere to be seen._

"Twilight, you have to find me."

_Her eyes widened – was that the voice from her dream?_

"Travel to the Realm of Magic. Find-"

"_Who are you?!" Twilight yelled._

_There was no answer. She continued to tumble. Until a light began to fill the sky. A light which filled her vision. She rose a hoof to shield herself from its glare._

"The Realm of Magic. Go there!"

_Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but the light consumed her. She continued to tumble, and-_

* * *

"…together!"

With a yelp, she tumbled out onto the cold floor of the World Tree. Or at least the World Tree as it existed in this place. The same trunk existed across all realms, but to the mere mortals who travelled its branches, every manifestation appeared different. On one level, she'd already been in this place when she'd entered the tree from the Earth Realm. On another, the way of the tree ensured that she would not be visible or interactable with the pegasi here, any more than she would in any other domain.

She'd spent years trying to figure it out. Years, and constant reminders from those around her that she was wasting her time, that she was trying to explain what scholars had failed to do for millennia. "Stick to magic," they'd say. "At least that has some practical use if you can master it."

_Key word being "if," _Twilight reflected bitterly. She'd tried to master magic for years, and like most things in her life (like getting into an actual school of magic, rare as they were in the Earth Realm), she'd failed miserably. At least her brother had died doing what he'd set out to do – fight the good fight for the good of the realm.

Still, Twilight reflected as she walked through the World Tree, earning numerous looks from the pegasi as she did so – magic, as hard as it was to master, was something she actually _could _master (at least in theory) unlike flight. Because while every pony had at least the potential for magic, flight was the domain of the pegasi alone. There were as many of them hovering in the World Tree as there were on the ground. And at the exit, as she stood in line waiting for her goods to be inspected, Twilight could see the realm beyond. White clouds with white marble pillars atop them, and a giant golden staircase that led to their capital of Cloudsdale. The pegasi were masters of the sky, and they wanted everyone to remember it. She approached a pair of guards at the exit, each clad in armour and carrying a spear. Brutes to the core, she reflected.

"Name?" one of them asked as she approached the checkpoint.

"Twilight Sparkle." She looked around at the interior of the World Tree, and frowned, looking upward. _Is that more sap?_

It was. More cuts. More…bleeding.

"Purpose?" the guard asked.

_What's happening to it?_

"Hey lady. Purpose?" the guard asked.

Turning away from the trunk's interior, Twilight returned her gaze to the guard and tapped her crate. "Orange delivery for the Cloud Factory. Workers are hungry or something."

"Oranges, eh?" The guard gestured to his comrade. "Follow Thunder Lane here. He'll take you to where they're needed."

"Um, okay," Twilight said. "But I'm pretty sure I can find-"

The guard patted her head. "Don't worry. We know that earth ponies aren't good at directions. Get their heads in the clouds too long, they lose all sense of bearing."

The second guard sniggered. So did many of the pegasi standing in line. Twilight, her ears burning, managed to bite back a retort and followed the guard to the exit. Taking a breath as she came outside, Twilight immediately noticed the thinner air and colder temperatures. Also that the World Tree here was reaching through the sky – clouds were its soil, and below them an empty blue sky that led unto infinity as far as she could tell.

"We'll take it from here."

What she also noticed was the quintet of pegasi that were standing in line for her. Every one of them was wearing the uniform of a Shadowbolt – the most lethal warriors of the Sky Realm. All but one of them was wearing a helmet. The only exception, the pegasi with a multi-coloured mane, walked forward. She looked at the one called Thunder Lane, who nodded, and headed off. Meanwhile, the lead pegasi looked back at Twilight.

"Oranges please."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "These are for the Cloud Factory."

"Yeah, we know. We'll take them there."

Twilight looked around – the guard who had taken her here was already on his way back inside the World Tree. The Shadowbolts stood in silence. The one before her still had her hoof out, but her small smile had now turned into a frown.

"Isn't this a bit much?" Twilight asked. "I mean, Shadowbolts taking oranges to a factory, I'd have thought-"

"Yeah, I don't care what an earth pony thinks," the pegasi snapped. "All I want is the oranges. And you're going to give me them before I-"

"Rainbow Dash!"

The pegasus in front of her looked up, as did Twilight and all the rest of the Shadow Bolts. Approaching them were a quintet of pegasi who were flying mighty fast, and looking more than a mite angry. If Twilight didn't know better, they were on a collision course, and she was about to-

_Oh son of a-_

She let out a yelp and dived aside as the attacking pegasi made contact with the Shadowbolts. Both sides wore the same armour, but the attackers wore shades of blue rather than shades of black. If Twilight didn't know better, she'd say that they were Wonderbolts. Which was ridiculous of course, because the Wonderbolts were a diminished order militant only good for guard duty, while the Shadowbolts were meant to be the best of the best.

_Unless they aren't Shadowbolts._

Maybe they were just thieves. But what they definitely were, Twilight reflected, were damn good flyers. Because the Wonderbolts may have had the element of surprise, but they'd held their own pretty good in the ensuring scuffle.

"Oh Lightning Dust, too slow again," Rainbow sneered.

Twilight looked at the one named Rainbow, and at the lead Wonderbolt who was trying desperately to catch the Shadowbolts' leader, but failing. Moving with supernatural speed, Rainbow evaded her, evaded the Wonderbolts, and grabbed the box of oranges, before flying up and sharing the weight between her and another one of her followers.

"Give my regards to Spitfire," Rainbow sneered, looking at the defeated Wonderbolts. She looked down at Twilight. "Heh. Nice mane."

Twilight realized that the pegasi had flown so fast her mane had been messed up. Which right now, was the least of her problems.

"Traitor!" Lightning Dust yelled as the Shadowbolts flew away, cackling. Not to Cloudsdale, but to one of the many other clouds that dotted the Sky Realm.

_Yep. Definitely the least of my problems. _

She looked around. The oranges had been stolen. She'd stumbled into pegasi business. Maybe if she left now, she could get back to Manehattan, explain what had happened, and-

"You," the one called Lightning Dust asked. "Mind telling us why you were meeting with known criminals?"

Twilight blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me – you were delivering goods to a bunch of traitors."

"Um, okay," Twilight said. "But I had no way of knowing that. I was actually on my way to the Cloud Factory." She forced a smile. "You believe me, right?"

Lightning Dust sighed and nodded to one of the bolts. He approached with some cuffs and a gag in hand. Twilight's eyes widened.

"I'm telling you, I'm-"

The earth pony fell silent as the cuffs and gag did their work.

…_innocent. _Twilight glared at the Wonderbolts, silently letting out a word to describe them.

Bad as this day was turning out to be, she'd at least expanded her vocabulary.


	3. Magic

.

**My Little Pony: Broken Branches**

**Chapter 3: Magic**

_No way I'm visiting the Magic Realm now._

Twilight looked out the window of the Sky Realm customs office that she was sitting in, watching the sun set. A different sun for a different realm, but all the realms shared the same cycle of time. In her own realm, a different sun would be setting over Manehattan. She'd asked to be allowed to contact the factory, let them know why their oranges were missing and why she hadn't returned, but a bored looking pegasus sitting at the desk had told her to sit down and shut up. Seeing that the pegasus had diminutive wings, and was spending most of her time reading about motor scooters, Twilight supposed that she was in a soul-crushing job that had sapped all meaning from her life, reminding her of the futility of her pitiful existence.

A kindred spirit then, she reflected.

"Twilight Sparkle?"

But at last, salvation, as the door to the adjacent office opened. Twilight saw a pegasus wearing a Wonderbolt uniform and a pair of sunglasses.

"Come in."

Twilight obliged and entered the office – it had shelves, a water cooler, and a poster of a tortoise saying "hang in there!" What exactly a tortoise could hang onto Twilight didn't know, let alone why it was wearing a harness with a propeller above its shell.

"So," said the pegasus, as she took a seat at her desk. "Here's the question – are you a collaborator, or just that stupid?"

Given the pegasus's tone, Twilight decided not to ask about the tortoise.

"Well?"

But it looked like she'd have to say something. "Um, I…" She trailed off.

The pegasus sighed and began adjusting files with her hoofs. "You arrive in the Sky Realm. You give oranges to a known traitor. That's aiding and abetting right there."

"I…I didn't know…"

The pegasus grunted and continued looking at the folders.

"Please," Twilight said. "You can contact my employers. They-"

"Oh, we have," the pegasus said, still not looking at Twilight. "They claim ignorance, you claim ignorance…I mean, we all know earth ponies' heads are as dense as the rocks they farm…"

Twilight scowled. "Why not ask the Cloud Factory? They made the order."

"Oh, we did. Only they don't have any log of it."

Twilight's scowl faded away, even if the ramifications of her situation hadn't. If the Cloud Factory hadn't ordered those oranges, who had?

"But as for you…" The commander reached behind her desk and tossed Twilight's satchel to her. Out of it spilt the magic books she'd been carrying. "Learning magic? Seriously?"

Twilight, her cheeks burning, looked down and gingerly scooped the satchel over.

"Well, it doesn't matter," the pegasus said. She closed the folders with a large 'slap' and began filing them in her drawers. "I don't need you here, Flim and Flam Incorporated doesn't want you there…"

"Excuse me?!"

"They said something about firing you. Being late, losing oranges, consorting with known enemies of the Sky Realm…"

"You can't do this!" Twilight exclaimed.

The pegasus didn't give her a second look. "I'm not doing anything. You've got a problem, take it up with them." She took a quill in one hoof and gestured to the office's exit as she began to write on some parchment. "Door's that way."

Twilight opened her mouth, but no words came out. Fired. The words hung over her like a dark rain clouds – the type that pegasi moved over their enemies before unloading hail upon them. Work on the conveyor line hadn't been a dream job, but it had still put food on the table. Now all that was left to her was work on a rock farm.

_Rock bottom, _Twilight thought to herself as she gingerly walked out of the pegasus's office. _I'm in a land of clouds, and I've still managed to hit rock bottom._

Almost. As she walked out, Lightning Dust walked by and tripped her up.

"Hoof slipped," she sneered, before walking in to see the pegasus Twilight had just seen.

Fighting back tears, Twilight pulled herself up from the floor.

_Rock bottom_, she reflected.

* * *

"Twilight Sparkle?"

She didn't hear the pony call out to her as she entered the World Tree again. No oranges, no cart, no job. It was evening, and she knew that it would be night by the time she got back to her apartment. Then she could wake up early and begin the process of searching for a new job. Maybe on a rock farm – least she'd have a pickaxe to hit people with.

"Twilight Sparkle?"

But since the joys of rock farming would have to wait for the future, Twilight this time turned to the source of the voice. And stared at the pony who was now likewise staring at her.

"Wow," the pony said. "You look just like her. I mean, sort of. Like, how she used to."

Twilight didn't respond – it wasn't that the pony was saying strange things (she was), but how strange she herself looked. She was a unicorn, with pink fur and a golden mane done up in a ponytail, complementing her sunflower cutie mark. But she was small. Much smaller than any other adult pony she'd seen (and an adult was what she was, given the tone of her voice). Her fur was less visible, her mane less shaggy, her eyes much bigger. There was an 'offness' about her, Twilight reflected.

Or, maybe it was because she was a unicorn, and unicorns were strange like that – she wouldn't put it past one of those schemers to disguise themselves, though to what end she couldn't guess. Thus, letting out a grunt, she turned away and continued to walk through the World Tree. Even as she could hear the unicorn follow her.

"You headed for the Magic Realm?"

Twilight snorted. "Why would I do that?"

The unicorn frowned. "You got her message didn't you?"

Twilight glared at her. "_Excuse me_?"

The unicorn recoiled. "Wow," she said. "I've never seen you look at me like that before."

"Kid, I've never even seen you before."

The unicorn opened her mouth, before looking aside, and murmuring, "quite right."

"Quite right," Twilight repeated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get home." She began walking up to the portal hub, looking for the Earth Realm one. It was late, and not many pegasi were travelling there. Even fewer ponies were coming out of it.

"Wait!"

Twilight groaned as the unicorn put herself in front of her. "Please, you have to go to the Magic Realm. It's the only way to set this world right!"

Twilight ignored her.

"Please, just take this."

What she didn't ignore was the shining blue gem that the unicorn pulled out of her own satchel. Her eyes widened as she saw the jewel. Slowly, turning away from its magnificence, Twilight looked at the unicorn. "This payment?" she asked.

"Oh no, silly. It's for the queen."

Twilight's heart skipped a beat. "The queen?" she whispered. "You want me to see _her_?"

"Yep. You go see the queen, you exchange the gem, and in return she'll give you a book."

"A book," said Twilight blankly.

"Yep. A book. One that will give you access to magic you can barely conceive of."

"Right…" said Twilight, not believing a word of it. "Does this book have a name?"

"Oh, er, it's…the book of…books?"

Twilight frowned. "You know I could just take this gem and use it myself right?"

"You could," said the unicorn. "But you do this, you'll finally be able to wield magic."

"Uh-huh," said Twilight in a deadpan voice. _And earth ponies might fly as well._

"Yep. Magic. Magic like you…I mean she…I mean…" The pony looked around. "Oh dear. Time to go," she murmured, before looking back at the earth pony. "Just think about it Twilight. The question you've asked yourself all your life? It's right in your hooves. All you have to do is give it to the queen."

Twilight looked down at the gem. "The question," she murmured, before looking back up. "What question are you…"

She trailed off.

The unicorn was gone.

* * *

_Guess I _was_ going to the Magic Realm._

It was evening, and Twilight had passed through the portal to the home realm of the unicorns. And already she hated it.

Hated it, because their capital, Canterlot, had been built by siphoning magic from the World Tree, damaging the Tree's flow to the other realms. The unicorns had agreed to stop many realm wars ago, but whether they'd stopped or not aside, the monument to their arrogance remained. Hated it, because as she walked through the gates of Canterlot, she was reminded of what she would never have. Hated it, because upon entering the city, she immediately realized that the unicorns had been selling a lie to the other realms. Their capital, their land, was meant to be one of shining opulence. And while Canterlot Castle indeed shone as a beacon to their majesty, the people around her were anything but well off. Their wooden homes, their dirty manes, the mud streets…if anything, the unicorns were worse off than the earth ponies of Manehattan. Lower technology, lower standards of living, likely lower lifespans as well. For all their gifts of magic, it appeared that they couldn't use it to alleviate their condition. And by all that was holy, the damn _smell_.

She also hated it because she watched a filly unicorn look out at her through ashen eyes situated under a broken horn, and besides cheeks with scars (similar to the scars she'd seen yet again in the World Tree in this realm) and beg for some bits – bits that Twilight didn't have. She hated it because even if unicorns were arrogant, surely their fillies deserved something better than this. Just like pegasi didn't need to be raised to be brutes. It was as if-

_No. Don't go soft Twilight. _

She ignored the unicorn and tightened her satchel's strap – partly because of the spellbooks she still carried. Mainly because it also carried the jewel the unicorn had given her. Partly because she was still wondering what she was even doing here. Hearing a voice while travelling between realms wasn't usually grounds for going off on adventures, it was grounds to see a shrink. And yet somehow, the unicorn had known, even if she'd tried to hide it. But still, what did she have to come back to? Whatever the Unicorn Queen could do to her, it wasn't going to be that much bad from working on a rock farm.

_Except, how do I get to the queen?_

It would have sounded ridiculous five minutes ago, given how grand the castle was, but in the squalor of Canterlot itself, Twilight could barely make out the castle. It was a maze of filth-encrusted streets. She tried asking a few unicorns for help, but few gave her the time of day. None of them did when she asked how to get to the palace. Frowning, Twilight nevertheless kept moving on. Pegasi were brutes. Unicorns were arrogant. She'd had both prejudices confirmed this day. Because even when they were surrounded by filth, they still considered themselves above her.

_Or maybe they're just scared._

Which might have been a line of inquiry worth pursuing if she didn't just bump into one of those unicorns, flanked by two other unicorns wearing armour.

_Oh crap. _Twilight scrambled back to her hooves. "I'm sorry, are you alright?"

The unicorn smiled. "Oh yes, my dear. Quite alright."

Twilight smiled as well, having finally met someone day who wasn't acting like a donkey. She took a good look at the unicorn in question – yellow fur, a pink mane, and to her amazement, surrounded by a flock of butterflies.

"Amazing," Twilight whispered.

"Hmm?"

"The butterflies," she said. "I've never seen anything like that."

"Oh, not many people do," the unicorn said. She giggled in a way that made Twilight feel uncomfortable. "No-one ever suspects the butterfly."

"Excuse me?"

The unicorn smirked, and as uneasy as her laugh had made Twilight, her smirk took the cake. Smiling, the unicorn looked at another butterfly that came flying over, hovering in front of her nose. Twilight saw her mouth moving, but if any words were coming out, she couldn't hear them. But she did hear what the unicorn said to one of the two guards flanking them – "take the house. And check under the floorboards – they've got a cache of jewels there. The queen will want them."

The guard bowed. "Of course, Mistress Fluttershy."

He headed off, and Twilight found herself warming up to the idea that she should get going as well. So, she started to tiptoe away and-

"And where do you think you're going?"

…and she gingerly looked around to see the unicorn, still smiling at her, but without any warmth behind it.

"Um…"

"It's not nice to slink away without saying goodbye," the unicorn said. "Or don't earth ponies know any manners?"

"I-"

"And what's this?" the unicorn asked, as she used her magic to rip Twilight's satchel away.

"That's mine!" She exclaimed. She tried to move forward, but the other guard grabbed her.

"_Was_ yours," the unicorn murmured. The satchel hovered in mid-air and opened, the unicorn using her magic to pull the books out. "_A Beginner's Guide to Magic_," she said, reading the titles. "_Magic for Non-Unicorns_. _Spells and Sorcery_." She sneered at Twilight. "You know these are terrible right? Not even unicorn fillies bother with these."

Twilight, too angry and frightened to speak, remained silent.

"Here, let me help you."

And became more angry and more frightened as the unicorn used her magic to rip out entire sections of the books, and using that same magic to incinerate the pages in mid-air.

"Stop!" Twilight yelled.

"Garbage…garbage…false…garbage…" the unicorn murmured as she continued to tear and burn.

"Please, stop!" Twilight pleaded.

"And…there." The unicorn tossed the spellbooks down into the dirt in front of Twilight. "All better now."

The guard let go of Twilight and she fell down into the mud. She used her hooves to gather what remained of the books up, trying to fight back tears. They were just books. But she'd paid a pretty bit for them, and had spent hours poring over their spells. And now…they were gone. Like her job, like her life, like whatever remained of her self-esteem.

"And what is this?" the unicorn exclaimed, holding the jewel up. "Oh my. How did a peasant like you come across this?"

"It's for the queen," Twilight whispered. She got to her hooves and tried to muster enough courage and dignity to meet the unicorn in the eye.

"The queen?" the unicorn asked. "And what, pray tell me, is the reason for such a beauteous gem?"

"It's a…" She took a breath. "Perhaps you best let me tell the queen myself."

The unicorn scowled.

"Or I tell her that one of her brutes held me back."

"Or I just put you in your place."

"Do that, and you'll find yourself in a similar place come the dawn."

The unicorn's scowl deepened, but nevertheless put the gem back inside the satchel and tossed it into the mud. She walked over, and watched as Twilight scooped it up, the mud staining not only her satchel, but her fur as well. She got to her hooves and the unicorn nodded for her to start walking. Gingerly, Twilight did so, casting one last glance at the remains of her spell books.

"It suits you," the unicorn whispered as Twilight passed by. She looked back at the unicorn, not sure what she meant.

"The dirt," Fluttershy said.

* * *

Was there a word in Equestrian for "opulence to the point of indulgence?" Twilight didn't know. If she ever got out of the castle, she intended to look up a dictionary and find out. Key word being "if," however, as she was shoved in front of the throne of the Unicorn Queen. The most wealthy being in all the realms, and by most accounts, the most beautiful as well.

"You smell darling. Don't earth ponies believe in showers?"

Queen Rarity.

"Well, never mind." The queen lay back in her throne, covered in a deep red fabric on its base, and purple fabric on its spine. "Come now, we don't have all day."

Twilight glanced around. Fluttershy had deposited her in the castle grounds before going off to bully the gardener. A pair of diamond dogs had guided her through the castle to the throne room, and as Twilight had looked at the interior, from the carpets to the chandeliers and everything in-between, she'd realized that at the very least, Rarity being the most wealthy being in all the realms was a fact that couldn't be disputed. But here before the throne now…well, she _was_ beautiful without question with her indigo mane, her snow-white fur, and the diamond tiara upon her forehead, but it was a beauty that didn't ring true. Skin deep, as the saying went. Or scale deep, when it was applied to dragons. Not that it really was.

"Speak up darling."

Twilight cleared her throat and took the gem out of her satchel. "This is a-"

"Mine!" Rarity yelled, and using her magic, she ripped the gem out of Twilight's hoof. Twilight stared, aghast, as she watched the queen stroke it like it was some kind of pet. "Oh aren't you a most beautiful thing? Yes you are. Yes you are."

_Um…_

The queen continued to stroke her gem. "Why, I believe I shall call you…Tom!"

"Tom?" Twilight asked.

The queen clapped her hoofs together, and from the side, walked a diamond dog. "You. Fido."

"Actually it's Franklin."

"Whatever. She tossed the gem aside and the dog caught it. "Take it to vault three."

"Vault three's full my queen."

"Oh. Then vault four?"

"Closed for extensions."

"Then take it into my third bedroom. I'll have some quality time with Tom there."

The dog bowed. "Of course, your majesty."

Twilight continued to stare. Diamond dogs didn't have their own realm – they dwelt beneath the ground of the Magic Realm. Or at least they did before they'd pledged their loyalty to Queen Rarity, and in doing so, given her access to all her gems. Gems which she'd used to finance the construction of her palace atop the old one. Gems which she continued to hoard, as her people suffered around her.

"Ahem," Twilight said.

Rarity looked back at her. "Hmm? Are you still here darling?"

Twilight cleared her throat. "I offered you a gem. I believe that even you abide by contracts."

"Contracts?" the queen asked, before her eyes lit up. "Oh, yes. Contracts. Well, fair's fair. You've brought me tribute, so shall give you…" Her horn began to glow and she rubbed her hooves together, before letting out a yell of "this!"

A book appeared out of thin air, and Twilight's heart skipped a beat. Perhaps what the unicorn she'd seen at the World Tree had said was right. If she had access to this book of spells, then everything she'd endured today, everything she'd endured all her life…that would be worth it. Magic. Adoration. Power. The chance to actually mean something in this world.

"Here you go," Rarity said nonchalantly, using her magic to toss the book over to Twilight. She caught it in her hooves and stared at the brown leather, along with the golden unicorn with blue eyes on its front. Her eyes widening in amazement, she turned the first page.

"What is this?" she whispered, reading the inscription – _Giggle at the Ghosties_. She looked up at Rarity. "What is this?!"

"Why darling, it's a book. One chosen at random of course – I don't play favourites when my lessers offer me tribute. I've got so many of these things, and not nearly enough gems. Why, if I didn't know better I'd…"

As the queen continued to yammer on, Twilight's eyes widened even further as she skimmed through the book. _Winter Wrap-Up. Let the Rainbow Remind You. I'll Fly. _And at the very end, _The Magic of Friendship Grows_. It wasn't a book of spells, she realized. It was a book of _songs_.

"This…" Twilight dropped the book and glared at Rarity. "This is…"

"Yes, darling?"

"Don't call me darling!" Twilight began walking towards her, but stopped as the diamond dogs barred the way, putting some spears before her. Nevertheless, she continued to speak.

"Over the course of today, I've discovered my best friend is a liar, my boss is a jackass, guards don't care if pink pegasi are also jackasses, that pegasi are still brutes, and unicorns are worse! I've pushed oranges, crawled in mud, lost my job, been apprehended, and all I get for all that is a _song book_?!"

Rarity stared at her, blinking.

"I was told that if I gave you this gem, I'd get a spell book!"

Rarity looked at her guards. The guards looked at her. A small unicorn in the corner of the throne room gave Twilight a sympathetic look before all in the throne room (the filly excluded) burst out laughing.

"A spell book!" Rarity exclaimed. She walked over to Twilight and patted her on the head. "Why, whatever for darling? You're an earth pony. Earth ponies don't do magic."

"That's not true," Twilight protested. "Anyone can master magic if they put in the time and effort and-"

"Oh darling," Rarity said, still giggling. "That may be true, but magic requires innate talent as well." She smiled. "Do you have it? Have you mastered any real spells?"

"Well, I…" Twilight ran a hoof through her mane, her cheeks reddening. She looked to the unicorn in the corner, but her head was facing towards the ground as she walked out.

"My dear," Rarity said, as she walked around Twilight. "From what you've told me, it's clear that if today was going to teach you something, it's that you should know your place and take what victories you can get." She patted Twilight on the head again, before whispering, "and that you'll never amount to anything." She clapped her hooves and a pair of diamond dogs walked over. "Now, begone. I have better things to do that waste my time on charlatans."

Twilight just stood there. Staring at the book. Fighting back the urge to scream. To curse. To cry.

She didn't resist as the diamond dogs dragged her away.


	4. Forest

.

**My Little Pony: Broken Branches**

**Chapter 4: Forest**

The gates to the palace closed with a heavy clang as Twilight Sparkle walked out into the cold night, clutching nothing but a satchel containing a single book.

She cast a glance up at the night sky. The moon was in its crescent phase, and the stars were completely different from those in the Earth Realm. She figured that if she kept up a reasonable pace, she'd be back home at her apartment by about 3pm. Key word being "if." Because as she trudged through the streets of Canterlot, even as the mud stained her fur and the smell assaulted her nostrils, she felt no desire to hurry up. Her only desire was to just crawl up somewhere and never wake up again.

Today had been a disaster. There was no other word for it, and she certainly didn't need a dictionary to look up the word's meaning. She'd thought she'd hit rock bottom in the Sky Realm, but because of her ill-fated attempt to crawl out of the ditch life had dug for her, she'd now gone subterranean. Her fur was still stained with dirt. Heck, she _was _dirt, and she didn't need any of the unicorns in this place to remind her of that fact. So she didn't respond to the gatekeeper of the town gate as he bid her goodnight. She didn't even look at him. And having exited the city, she didn't look anywhere else but down as she trudged across the grass to the World Tree. Below her was grass. Below the grass was dirt. Where she belonged. Where her brother had gone, and where she was now happy to join him.

"Twilight?"

But she did stop when she heard the voice, and slowly turn to the one who had just spoken to her. Her eyes widened as she saw a unicorn step out of the shadows of a tree. The same unicorn that had spoken to her inside a much larger tree and bid her come to this forsaken realm in the first place. Twilight glared at her, and the unicorn awkwardly ran her hoof through her mane.

"Bad night huh?" the unicorn asked.

Twilight glared at her.

"I get that things might seem bad right now but-"

Twilight yelled and after tossing her satchel aside, tackled the unicorn, putting her hooves around her throat.

"Seem bad?" Twilight asked, as she squeezed. **"Seem bad?!"**

The unicorn struggled to break free of Twilight's grasp, but she had no luck, her hooves ineffectually hitting Twilight's legs.

"**You set me up! I thought I'd lost everything today before you came along, but no, you actually sent me to a place worse than Cloudsdale!"**

"Twi…light…" The unicorn was struggling to breathe, which made Twilight want to choke her all the more.

"Maybe I'll never use magic," she whispered. "Maybe I'm just an earth pony. But you know what? I'm strong. I'm bigger than you. And if you think I'm going to just stop because you're oh so sorry, then-"

There was a flash of light and the unicorn disappeared, leaving Twilight to fall down upon the grass. Scowling, and with murder shining in her eyes, she got to her feet and looked around. The unicorn had done a teleportation spell, but hadn't travelled far. In fact, she was only just a few feet away, a hoof to her throat as she struggled to regain her breath. That fire in her eyes still shining, Twilight got up, charged her, and-

"Wait!"

…came to a stop as the unicorn stumbled back. Still struggling to breathe. Looking at Twilight with terror in her eyes.

_What am I doing?_

She blinked, and watched the unicorn get to her feet. Looking at her with caution, if not terror now.

_What did I just do?_

The fire leaving her eyes, and her own breathing returning to normal, Twilight turned away to pick up her satchel, before heading off through the gloom. She needed air. She needed space. She needed to be alone.

"Twilight?" the unicorn asked. "Where are you going?"

"Home," she grunted.

"What, Manehattan?" The unicorn appeared in front of her. "No. No way. You've got to come with me. You've been to almost all the places you had to be, now I've got one last thing to show you."

Twilight scoffed. "I think you've shown me enough." She walked past the unicorn, still headed for the World Tree.

"You really want to go down that road Twilight?" the unicorn called out.

Twilight stopped in her tracks.

"I know where the road goes," the unicorn whispered. "I know where it ends. Tell me…is that really where you want to be?"

Twilight didn't say anything. The road led to the World Tree. To the Earth Realm. Manehattan. Her apartment. Of course she didn't want to be there right now, but what alternative existed?

"Follow me," the unicorn said, nay, pleaded, as she walked in front of Twilight. "Just this one last thing. After that, after you've met my master…"

"You have a master?"

The unicorn blushed. "Well, more like a teacher, but I…" She took a breath. "Please, Twilight. I can't say too much, and I can't stay here long. She'll be able to stay here even shorter. But if you want to create a better world, this is where it starts."

Twilight frowned. A better world. She'd travelled across three realms today, and all the ways they could be improved were long enough to fill a library if they were all written down. But looking at the unicorn in front of her, this strange creature, with her strange fur and strange size…

"Alright," Twilight whispered. "Alright."

She'd trust her, but only one last time.

"Thank you," the unicorn said. "You won't regret this."

"I better not," Twilight murmured. She tightened her satchel. _Hit rock bottom. How much further can I go anyway?_

The unicorn smiled and began walking through the night. Away from both Canterlot and the World Tree.

"What's your name anyway?" Twilight asked.

"Hmm?" The unicorn looked back at her before smiling. "Oh, it's Luster."

* * *

"You said I wouldn't regret this," Twilight murmured. "You leading me into a forest is making me doubt that."

"Nearly there Twilight."

"Nearly where? A place where the trees are even more creepy?"

Luster laughed, and Twilight fought the urge to kick her. She'd never been one for physical violence (her earlier outburst aside), but with all her magic books destroyed…well, maybe it was time to go full earth pony on the girl leading her through this dank, fetid wood. They'd been walking for an hour, and so far, she'd received no sign that this was going to be worth it. Her brother had died in battle. Maybe it was time she followed his example.

"Luster," Twilight said.

"Nearly there."

"Luster, no. Stop."

The unicorn stopped and turned around. "Twilight, please. It's only a hundred or so metres away."

"Good. Then when you convince me to keep following you, we'll only have a short distance to walk." Twilight patted her hoof against the ground. "Start talking. Where is this place. And why are we here?"

Luster sighed. "This place is…it's a special place."

Twilight sniffed. "It's a dark place, I'll give you that." _And it smells. Is that what moss smells like? _

"It's called the Everfree Forest," Luster continued. And like the World Tree itself…look, I don't know exactly how it works, but there's a forest like this in every world. The roots of the forest extend across entire realities. Just like the World Tree groups the realms of this specific world, the Forest of Everfree groups all realities. So it's here that I entered this world, and it's here that you'll have to talk to my teacher."

Twilight sniffed again. "I don't _have _to do anything." Luster went to speak, but she interrupted her. "But fine. Sure. Other worlds. I can work with that."

Luster's eyes shone. "Really?"

Twilight shoved past her. "No."

This was a mistake, Twilight reflected. At best, Luster was playing a prank on her. At worst, with her nonsense about alternate realities, she was insane. Right now, she didn't particularly care. She cared enough to let this charade play to the end, but after that, first order of business was to get away from the wretch that was following her. Second order was to find a ditch to die in.

"We're here," Luster said eventually.

Twilight looked around. Trees, grass, and more trees surrounded them. "We walked over an hour for this?" Twilight exclaimed. "It looks exactly the same as everything in this stinking forest!"

"Oh ye of little faith," Luster laughed. Her horn glowed and a stick rose into the air, before carving out a symbol on the forest floor.

"Faith," Twilight murmured. "Don't have much of that these days."

Luster was chanting some gibberish nonsense.

"Never had much of it at all."

Luster glanced back at her. "Do you think that's the problem?" she whispered. "People losing faith? Losing hope?"

Twilight scowled at her.

"Think about it." Luster finished carving the symbol, stepped back and looked at Twilight. "Keep away from the circle," she said.

"Oh really? Why?"

"You enter the circle, you'll enter my world. And because it can only transport one, I won't be able to get back."

"Yeah, sure kid, whatever." Twilight looked at the circle and the symbols, waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

And still waiting, as she looked at Luster and asked, "so, is this where I call you insane? Or do I wait a bit longer?"

Luster frowned. "I don't understand. The astral projection magic should-"

There was a flash of light that came down from a rainbow that hit the ground with enough force to send Twilight falling back onto her back, letting out a yelp as she landed.

"Ah, there it is!" Luster laughed.

_How the heck are you even standing? _Twilight wondered. Nevertheless, she got to her hooves, and stared. Not at Luster, who was smiling with a radiance that befitted her namesake, but at the creature in the centre of the circle. The towering creature who looked down at Twilight with shining violet eyes, situated beneath a golden crown, behind which flowed a shimmering mane of similar colour as her own (in fact, her entire coat was similar to hers as well). She smiled at Twilight, and uttered, "hello."

Twilight screamed. She might have fainted as well if Luster didn't use her magic to levitate her close to the creature before plopping her on the ground. The creature continued to smile, even as Twilight continued to tremble.

"Do I scare you?" she asked.

Twilight, after a moment's hesitation, nodded.

"Why?"

"Because…" Twilight took a breath. "Because you're an alicorn."

The creature, looking puzzled, glanced at Luster, who shrugged. Twilight continued to stare – the creature might not be an alicorn, but it certainly resembled one. Creatures whom, according to the stories of old, were the most dangerous beings to have ever existed across the realms. Creatures with the strength of an earth pony, the wings of a pegasus, and the magic of a unicorn. The alicorns had finally been eradicated, and the three kindreds had sworn to never again let their spawn enter the world. Granted, the stories might have been exaggerated, but Twilight knew that…

_How much _do _I know? _She got to her feet. If the creature was an alicorn, it was so far failing to live up to the terrible reputation its forebears had created.

"What are you?" Twilight whispered.

The creature laughed. "I am indeed an alicorn, if that's what you're asking."

Twilight shook her head. "No, I mean, you look…different." She peered through the gloom. "Your fur. Your mane. Your eyes. You look like…" She glanced at Luster. "You look like her."

Luster laughed. "She does _not _look like me at all, sister. If anything, she looks like you!"

Twilight frowned – granted, that was true, but only in the sense that they both had lavender fur, lavender manes, violet eyes…

_What are you?_

"Luster, please." The alicorn looked at Luster before she smiled at Twilight. "I understand. Things are…different, across worlds. Like the same picture made over and over, only with different paints." She looked aside, and Twilight got the sense that she wasn't looking at the forest, but at something else. Maybe on the other side of the portal. Because if Luster was talking about astral projection, then that meant the creature wasn't even here. But still, the question remained. The question that she still had to ask.

"Why am I here?" Twilight whispered.

The creature sighed. "I don't have much time, Twilight, so when I speak, please do not interrupt. You have believed Luster, as she led you into this world's version of the Everfree Forest. So believe me or no, at least let me finish the story."

Twilight, after a moment's hesitation, nodded.

"You are here," the creature began, "because you know that something is wrong in this world. You've felt it in your bones. Your soul. You know that the world could be better. That it _should_ be better. You've known this your entire life. It's why night after night, you've poured over spell books in a bid to find something to make you feel whole. And it's why even now, in spite of everything that's occurred this day, you still know it. Why you still seek an answer."

Twilight scowled. Of course the world should be better. What of it, she wondered?

"This world," the creature continued, "is one of many. Like branches on a tree, stemming from a seed of creation that even I know not of." She nodded at Luster, who picked up the twig again and began to sketch in the dirt. "Most of the branches are whole. Worlds that remain similar, some so much so that one could spend their entire life looking for the difference between them."

Twilight looked at the image Luster was drawing. It was a vague representation of a tree, one with many branches.

"But at times, the branches stray so far that entire new worlds are created."

Luster began drawing another tree, and Twilight watched. She quickly realized that this was a vague representation of the World Tree – a single trunk with no branches, but rather 'leaves' – the realms that spread out from its base.

"The World Tree is dying," the creature continued. "As it dies, its people die."

Twilight snorted. "The World Tree is fine."

"Is it, Twilight? I did ask that you not interrupt, but can you honestly say that you've seen none of these signs?"

Twilight opened her mouth, but closed it. _The sap, _she reflected. _Like it was bleeding._

"I thought not," said the creature.

"Okay," Twilight said. "But if the World Tree dies, so what? Might even make things better for us since we don't have to interact anymore. And, people dying? I'm very much alive thanks."

She shivered as the wind picked up, as if to remind her that there was a ditch she could still crawl into if she wanted.

"Alive for now," the creature murmured. "But the wars. The strife. The Magic Realm is ruled by a tyrant. The Sky Realm is on the verge of civil war. And your own realm is on the verge of starvation. Tell me, Twilight Sparkle – is this the world as it should be? Do not your own histories speak of kinder times? Times where the realms were not divided?"

Twilight said nothing. Not at first at least. She wanted to say that the realms had always been separate, and geographically speaking, that was true. But the stories did speak of a time before the wars. Before the hatred. The hardship. Before the world existed…like this. So instead, she asked, "then why me?"

"Because of all the people in this world, I think I could claim to know you best of all, or at least, as well as I could know anyone here. Because in the dead of night, the borders between worlds are at their weakest, as dreams batter the walls of reality. In your dreams, in my dreams, I heard…" She trailed off.

"It was you," Twilight whispered. "In my dreams. Between realms."

The creature nodded.

"Why?"

"Why indeed?" the creature asked. "Why watch over dreams? Why put in that order for the oranges, to get you exactly where you needed to be? Why cast a spell ahead of time so that the book you now carry ended up in your hooves exactly when it was meant to?"

Twilight stared at her. The worst day of her life, and this creature, this _alicorn…_

"You did it," she whispered. "You did all of it."

"Technically Luster did. I just directed her."

Twilight glared at Luster who gave her a sheepish smile. She began to walk over to her, but the creature spoke.

"Take not your anger out on my student Twilight. It does not become you."

Twilight glared at the creature. "You," she whispered. "Why aren't you here then?"

"Because I have seen the damage that travelling between realities can wreck. Because the magic in this world is different, and one of my power could disrupt it beyond imagining." She looked at the unicorn. "So I sent my student here. She who is without counterpart in this place. She whose magic is far behind. She who could not bring a world to near ruin, as I could. As my own mentor once did."

Luster frowned. "It wasn't your fault that the Reflected World was nearly destroyed."

_The what? _Twilight reflected.

"True, my student."

"Nor Celestia's."

_Who?_

"Less true, but who could hold her responsible?"

"And my magic isn't _that _far behind…"

The creature laughed. "Fair enough. But you were the one who made the orange request, and you were the one who got our friend here to get to the Magic Realm, even as I called to her across planes. Not to mention that you used your own magic to ensure the spell book got into Twilight's hooves when it was meant to."

"Wait, that was you?" Twilight asked.

"Was _us_," the creature said. "To get you to meet the four ponies who you'll need to set the world right – versions of beings that I have seen over, and over, and over again. To save the World Tree. To make the world as it was meant to be."

Twilight shook her head. "No. No way."

"I believe that you know them by the names of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Applejack you've known for years, but-"

"Them?!" Twilight exclaimed. "Those brutes?"

The creature frowned. "I wouldn't say _that_, but-"

"Well I would," Twilight snapped. "Because they're horrible! Why in the world, in any world, would I spend any more time with them? They're monsters!"

The creature frowned. "Do you believe that all are irredeemable, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight rubbed her mane. "Well, no, but…look, some people don't change."

"I did," the alicorn whispered.

"Well good for you princess, but if this world is so terrible, why are you even bothering with it?"

"Because someone has to. Because I want to."

Twilight shook her head. "No. That's not it. No-one does anything without expecting a reward."

"I know you don't believe that Twilight. In your heart of hearts, you know the world can be better. That it should be better. That you're better than the pony you think yourself to be. That you've seen who could remake the world in a kinder image before your head overrides your heart." She nodded at the satchel. "Luster didn't completely deceive you Twilight – that is a spell book."

"Spell book? It's full of songs!"

"And thus, replete with the greatest magic of all. This world, Twilight…it's forgotten how to sing. And I believe that you are the only one who can remind it."

"Why?"

"Because I was once like you. And because, after all these years, as tight as these shoes are…" She held up a hoof, her golden hoof-shoe shining in the light, "…I've never forgotten how to dance."

She put her hoof down and looked aside for a moment, before looking at Luster. "Our time is up. The way is closing." She looked at Twilight. "In a few moments' time, the barriers between worlds will harden, and will be forever closed. Neither mirror nor magic will be able to open them again."

Twilight remained silent as Luster joined the creature inside the circle "The spell we're using will likewise send you home," Luster explained. "After all your trotting around, it's the least I could do."

"And then what?" Twilight whispered.

Luster's teacher smiled. "That will be up to you."

The wind began to pick up. The clouds above pated. A rainbow shot down from them, hitting Luster and her teacher with a blinding light. Twilight staggered back, trying to keep her footing, as well as her sight.

"Farewell, Twilight. And good luck," the creature said.

"Who are you?" Twilight called out.

The creature laughed, and gave her answer before she disappeared from the earth pony's sight forever. "Twilight Sparkle," she said.

"No, that's my name. What's yours?"

The creature said something, but its voice was lost in the wind and light, both of which consumed the earth pony and her satchel. Carrying her upwards. Blinding her, before she closed her eyes…

…before depositing both on a bed in a Manehattan flat. Her head spinning, her throat dry, her entire body aching, Twilight looked at the watch beside her windowsill.

**3:02AM**

_About time, _she reflected before passing out.


	5. Epilogue: Friendship

.

**My Little Pony: Broken Branches**

**Epilogue: Friendship**

She didn't wake up until 10:07AM.

She lay there, stretching out in her bed. She hadn't dreamt at all, and was much better rested. And since she didn't have a job to go to anymore, she figured she could stay in bed as long as she wanted. Course she'd be evicted before the month's end if she didn't turn in some bits, but as it turned out, being unemployed was strangely liberating.

She got in the shower at 10:12AM, before getting out at 10:28. At 10:31, she helped herself to a grass smoothie. And at 10:33, asked herself, "what now?" Not out loud of course, but still, the question remained. What now indeed? The world was still terrible. Her life was still terrible. And if everything the creature had told her in the forest was true, then the world was screwed. Also that she might be able to save it, but that was ridiculous. Lying back in her chair, she wondered if a visit to the Manehattan Central Library was in order. Maybe a few books on how to apply for a job, because the only reason she'd managed to get one in the orange factory was because of Applejack, and she was-

"Twi? You in there?"

…was hammering away at her apartment door right now.

"Twi?"

Twilight frowned and got to her hooves, wondering what to do, if anything. She didn't want to see Applejack right now. She didn't want to see any of the twats that creature in the forest had told her about, not even the one who was arguably the least odious. She opened her mouth to speak, a retort ready on her tongue-

"Twi, I know what happened. And I'm sorry. But if you could just please open the door, I…"

…but no retort came out.

"Look, I can't promise that everything's gonna come up peachy, but…Twi, if you're there…"

Twilight took a breath, walked over and opened the door. With a frown, she asked, "what?"

Applejack lowered her hat and forced a smile. "That bad huh."

"After yesterday? After losing my job, and being accosted by pegasi, and unicorns, and ali…all other things, you think it was _bad_?"

"Um, yep?"

"Yep," said Twilight. She turned around and headed back to the kitchen. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Obviously I was mistaken about you, and magic, and everything else, so…" She trailed off, and turned around. Applejack had followed her in, but was lingering in the hallway. A parchment was in her hoof and was held out to her.

"What is this?" Twilight asked.

"Just a little something." Applejack looked down, unable to look Twilight in the eye. "Might help with the whole job thing."

Raising an eyebrow, Twilight nevertheless took it. The eyebrow fell as she stared at the parchment. "This…this is…"

"Yeah, I know. References aren't much but…"

"Not much?" Twilight cleared her throat. "Kind. Intelligent. Friendly. Hard-working. Able to see the best in people. Determined." She looked at Applejack. "You know this is a crock of cow manure, right?"

"No. Not really." Applejack finally met Twilight's gaze. "Come on Twi, I've known you for five years. I can at least embellish a little. I mean, it's not as if my brother's going to, even after I yelled at him for an hour, but-"

Twilight hugged her. "Thank you,' she said. "Thank you thank you thank you."

"Um, sure," Applejack said, breaking the embrace. "Glad you like it."

Twilight laughed and headed for her room.

"Listen, I'm gonna go," Applejack said. "But hey, if you need help, with…hay…or saying hey…or apples…then I can, um…do that stuff."

Twilight came out of the bedroom and plopped a book on the table.

"Twi?"

"I'm fine, Applejack, really." She looked at her and smiled. "Go on. We'll be in touch."

"Um, sure." She headed for the door, and before exiting, murmured, "y'know, you were right. That was my dream once, but after all this time…" She sighed. "Sometimes you have to stop lying."

She closed the door gently and Twilight smiled. Applejack couldn't know it yet, but she might have given her exactly what she needed.

_Do you believe that all are irredeemable, Twilight Sparkle?_

The creature, no, alicorn's words echoed in her mind as she opened the book. Maybe she _was _insane. Maybe she wasn't. Maybe all of this had been a lie. But right now, it didn't matter.

Right now, Twilight reflected, it was time to teach herself how to sing.

**The End**

* * *

_A/N_

_So, yeah. I'm trying to think of some kind of final thought here, but sorry, got nothing. _

_Anyway, by way of shameless plugging, don't have any more MLP stories on my "to write" list at this point in time. Current multi-chaptered focus is on a _Firefly _story (the show, not the character :P) titled _All the World's a Stage_. Granted, that's been my "writing focus" for years, but maybe someday I'll get it done. Heck, maybe even before G5 actually debuts._


End file.
